Whisky blending at the world’s best single malt distillery – Yilan Food Trip

December 12, 2016 1 Comment

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Heavy workload has taken quite an unusual toll on our yearly Christmas vacation. No matter how early I planned my vacation with Felicia and Elkan, major important projects disrupted all my planning. Unable to spend 2 weeks away with my family, I felt really terrible and guilty. Thankfully, they are very understanding and loving. After a few adjustments, I managed to plan a short weekend getaway with them in Taipei last weekend.

As always, I kept the destination a secret. Elkan had no idea where we were bringing him. He was extremely excited when we told him that we were flying to Malaysia. He is a foodie and he is fond of all savoury street food. Since he didn’t know we were traveling up north, he packed very little clothes. Thinking it must be hot and humid in Malaysia, Elkan wore shorts and jersey. He was actively planning his eating itinerary when we were walking on the air bridge.

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As blur as he can be, the streets of Taiwan do resemble the shop houses of Kuala Lumpur. He simply had no idea that we tricked him until we pointed out to him. Of course, he wasn’t intrigued by Taipei 101 or Ximending (西门町). What captivated his senses were the braised pork rice and peppery Taiwanese sausages!

We took the morning flight and arrived in Taipei at 1030am. We dropped our bags at the hotel and hired a taxi for a 4-hour round trip to Jiufen and Shifen. Weather was surprisingly good, this was the first time when I didn’t need to carry an umbrella. It was raining cats and dogs the last 4 times I was here.

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It was extremely crowded at Jiufen Old Street (九份老街). There were so many Singaporean tourists here too. It was so easy to identify our own people. Felicia, Tracy and Elkan were delighted by the local street delicacies. They just couldn’t stop munching.

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At Shifen Old Town (十份老街), we visited the newly renovated Shifen Waterfall Park (十份瀑布) and the old railway town where hundred of people were releasing sky lanterns (孔明灯／天灯) on the railway track. We were very lucky to see the train bypassing the old town (timing: 430pm-5pm). It was an unexpected and interesting sight. We didn’t even have time to figure out what was going on until we saw the approaching train. Within seconds, street vendors ushered the crowd out of the tracks. It was a very narrow track and when the train went by, I was just standing less 2 feets away. What an experience!

Despite the warning penalties and signages, the crowd gathered back at the track instantly right after the train left. What a dramatic and spectacular scene transformation.

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Day 2 – next morning, we headed out to Yilan (宜兰）with our Taiwanese friends, Chen and his son, Yifang. They drove 2 hours from Taizhong (台中) and picked us up at our hotel in Taipei. The journey to Yilan took around 90 minutes with a couple of jams along the highway.

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We stayed one night at a modern farm hotel (River Forest Farm Hotel) located at Dongshan. Surrounded by paddy fields and fancy villas, we explored and cycled around the big farming estate. The air was so fresh and cooling. The calm reflection of the paddy fields created a surreal landscape, a healthy and quiet place to calm my hectic mind.

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I was looking forward to fly my new Mavic Pro at Yilan but weather condition was awful. It rained for 2 continuous days. Stranded indoor, I had to forego all the outdoor itineraries. Instead, we visited some of Yilan’s prestigious food factories.

Kavalan Whisky Distillery was one of the main reasons why I made a stopover at Yilan. It is afterall the world’s best single malt Whisky! The distillery was free and opened to public. There was no age restriction, children of any ages were welcome. To my disappointment, there wasn’t any guided tour. Tour was pretty much self-guided and intuitive with many educational exhibits. I gave my son a short Whisky induction. From malting to distilling to ageing, we were greeted by Kavalan’s massive production line. We stopped by the retail store for more free whisky tasting and bought a couple of miniatures for our friends back home.

photo2photo5photo4Before we left, we signed up for an exclusive Whisky DIY Class where we got to blend and personalize  our own whisky. We spent about about 45 minutes inside the classroom experimenting over 15 unique blends. In the end, all of us picked Chen’s creation as the most favourite blend. Using his recipe (1.5A, 1.5B & 3C), I reproduced 2 bottles for our VIP friends!

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Chen recommended 2 other big factories that we must visit – the famous Taiwanese cookie (宜兰饼发明官) and rice noodle factory (宜兰虎牌米粉). Elkan was super happy because those were his favourite food! It was a great educational trip for the 2 young boys. For the adults, we enjoyed all the delicious food samplings! We had so much yummy food that there was no need for lunch! It felt like a road trip down Australia’s Margaret River where tourists are pampered with local dairy goodies.

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All in all, it was a very short getaway with the family. Work was constantly, subconsciously flashing in my mind despite being away from office. Nevertheless, it was a good break with many priceless family -&-friends moments (our failed Mannequin Challenge and Extreme Bottle Flip was hilarious). As the saying goes, work hard, play harder. Enjoy the photos and vlogs. Looking forward to our next adventure!

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Best drone-flight ever – DJI Mavic Pro

November 7, 2016 2 Comments

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Finally, I managed to squeeze some precious hours from my hectic, tormenting work to shoot this week’s amazing vlog! Workload has been piling since September and I even don’t have time to vlog about my son’s short vacation in Hong Kong.

This was the perfect break I desperately needed! I was one of the few lucky ones who managed to get hold of DJI’s latest big hit, the Mavic Pro. I received my Mavic Pro a week ago and I didn’t have time to test it. Finally, I couldn’t resist the temptation and took it out of the box last night. I say, let’s see what this little gem can do.

Mavic Pro is incredibly small and portable. I had climbed mountains with DJI Inspire 1 on my back. Despite the wonderful footage it captured, it was a back-breaking nightmare! The Phantom 4 is an amazing drone but nothing like the Mavic Pro.

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Mavic Pro lives up to its name. It delivers beyond what DJI promised at its debut event! Despite its small compact body, it is packed with amazing high-technology sensors and power. It is the smoothest and most amazing drone-flight ever!

I brought the drone to Aberdeen harbour this afternoon for a test flight. I often faced problems calibrating the Inspire 1 and Phantom 4. But not with the Mavic Pro. Calibration was such effortless! It took me less than 3 minutes to get it up in the air. Due to its small body-frame, I was at first worried and skeptical about its performance and stability. The drone was incredibly stable and it cruised steadily out in the open sea.

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Connectivity was amazing! Throughout all my 8 flights, I never encounter any lost signal or distorted vision on my screen. With the Inspire 1 and Phantom 4, I always faced connection issues near 2km-mark. I flew the Mavic Pro beyond the 3km-mark and the signal was still strong! With such power and stability, I decided to take it out to the city, where it was congested with strong radar and signals. Guess what, Mavic Pro flew superbly smooth without any signal issues!

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Mavic Pro scored a perfect landing when I tested its “Return Home” function. After 15 minutes of flight, it flew back and landed right at the very same spot it took off! It was just unbelievable! “Follow Me” tracking was pretty accurate and responsive. It had no problem following me until its avoidance feature got in the way. The drone stayed still in the air no matter which direction I waved at it. In the end, I had to use the controller to break its trance and got it down.

Battery life was great. No complain.

Video-shooting was a little tricky. There are some shots which were very blur. I had to constantly touch the screen to activate the focus point. Back at home when I reviewed the videos, I was surprised to see how sharp the video quality were! Earlier, some vloggers mentioned about its inferior video quality. Those were pretty much user-errors. It was as good as the Phantom 4. I can’t really tell the difference.

All in all, this is the best drone for everyone, especially for beginner. DJI has spent 10 good years building and innovating drones. I do believe the Mavic Pro is the best consumer-drone out there at this moment. With better camera system and smart software in the near future, drone-flying will be certainly much safer and travel-friendly for everyone.

Note: This is not a sponsored blog/vlog by DJI. If you like me to review any new product for my next vlog, please email to: wahbiang@hotmail.com

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Mid Autumn Reunion with my darlings!

September 12, 2016 4 Comments

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I have been away from my blog for almost 2 months. Work has been hectic and my personal life has nothing worthy or special to blog (except for Aaron Kwok’s super fancy and spectacular concert!). Time flies and it is already September! My mum, wife and son arrived separately for short mid-autumn reunion.


I took 2-week leave to accompany my family. Unfortunately, my mum and me fell ill during the first 2 days of our vacation. The change of season and the awful wet weather worsen our sickness. I decided to postpone the original trip (to Guilin) and settled for something cozy nearby. I booked 2 very spacious and special accommodations for the family at Macau and Shenzhen.

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The weather was gloomy and it poured heavily everyday. We stayed mostly indoor throughout the trip. We didn’t do a lot of shopping in Macau and Shenzhen. Couldn’t resist the temptation, Tracy and I bought the latest mobile-gimbal gadgets at DJI’s first Flagship Store located just right beside our villa. Mum wasn’t feeling well and slept throughout the vacation. (Guess she misses the company of Auntie Amy.) Thankfully, Tracy and Elkan lightened up the villas with their endless jokes and laughers.

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The rain finally stopped for a few hours and we resumed our “violent play” out by the private pool. Poor “Clumsy Tracy” slipped and took a nasty, painful fall into the cold water when she tried to kick water at us. It was such a comical and scary sight that got my sick mum up from her bed! Despite the gloomy and wet weather, we had so much fun playing by the pool (playing a new game Elkan taught us ~ Bottle Flip). Nothing fancy, this was a simply lazy, relaxing bonding trip.

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It was a very short 4N3D reunion for Felicia, Elkan and I. Felicia and Elkan flew back to Singapore this evening. Harshad came by to finish the 3 chapters of the Uncharted 4 game with Elkan. No teary goodbye at the airport station this afternoon – now that’s a first! My boy is finally a grown-up! Tracy and mum will be flying back to Singapore tomorrow too. My Dad will fly in to Hong Kong this Wednesday to fill up the void. For the least, I won’t be lonely this mid Autumn Festival. I pray for mum’s speedy recovery and hope for sunny weather when dad arrives.

Enjoy my vlog and photos. Till we meet again in the next 6 weeks!

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Last post from the DownUnder – VI/VI (Perth)

June 20, 2016 4 Comments

I am supposed to complete this blog in Perth 2 days ago but I have decided to spend the rest of free time with them at night. It takes a lot of time and effort to vlog and blog. I only do that during the wee-hours of the night when the family is asleep. Reunion time is precious to us and I try to stay away from my computer as much as I can.

Day 8 – After a night at the creepy foggy town at Hyden, we embarked our longest drive back to Perth City. It was super foggy and visibility was at only 100m. Unfamiliar with such road condition, Felicia took the wheel and drove cautiously.

We made a 20km detour to visit the Mulka Cave (thanks to Floyd’s recommendation) where we explored a tiny cave with many cave paintings. Elkan led the exploration and guided me to the top of the cave where we saw an enchanted forested garden. It was like walking on the surface of the moon except it was textured with colourful emerald and amber moss and with numerous sparkling pot-holes. The cold air and foggy forest mist made this place so refreshing calm. If we weren’t rushing for time, I would sit here for hours.

The drive to Perth took us 5 hours. Just outside the town Corrigin, we stopped by another unusual attraction – a cemetery solely for men’s best friends, dogs! It all started back in 1975 when a man by the name Paddy Wright buried his dog here. Soon after, more dog lovers came here to bury their deceased dogs. A cemetery care-taker by the name of Alan Henderson erected tombstones and decorated the site for a fee. This dog cemetery has then became the town’s most unusual tourist attraction.

Our final pitstop was at Fremantle where we rested for 2 days. I booked a 3-storey terrace house right at the doorstep of Fremantle Marina. It was our best stay in Western Australia so far. We had 2 really big balcony overseeing the marina and a 2-bedder attic on the top floor! Elkan was at first thrilled with such a big house but he has developed this fear for attic after 5 days of horror-movie watching on the road trip. He refused to sleep in the attic no matter how we hard we tried.

We spent the last 2 days (Day 9 – Day 10) walking around Fremantle. At Fremantle Markets, Felicia even bumped into her old friend whom we last met 20 years ago! What a small world indeed!

The weather was fantastic and I flew my drone around Fremantle Railway Station, the Round House, Fremantle Prison and Cottesloe Beach.

Later in the night, we visited the Fremantle Prison. This was Elkan’s most favourite activity of the entire trip. Geared with only a small torchlight, we followed a small group of tourists and explored the 161-year-old prison. The night tour was filled with lots of suspense and haunted tales. During the tour, Elkan was selected by the tour guide to lead the group into a small dark cell. Thankfully, he was brave and he did not panic. If not, his cries and mental breakdown will be too much for the poor tour guide to handle.

Just before we headed to the airport hotel, we met up with another old friend, Lambert and family. We spend a short afternoon with this fabulous family at their newly-built bungalow (where I took an aerial shot of his home!). Tracy and I had an embarrassing moment when we convinced Lambert that we spotted penguins along Mill Point Road. Despite being doubtful, Lambert was kind to lead us to the area where we had our sighting. The two families drove to that specific spot and we walked for 15 minutes before we realised our mistake. From the highway, it sure looked like penguins. From my super-zoom camera, those were normal birds (the colours and postures resembled the penguins) resting on a rock. What a laugh!

11 days and 12 nights of adventure finally ended yesterday. Time to wrap up all these happy moments and head back to office tomorrow. It is a short June reunion but full and complete.

Perth is indeed a very special place for both Felicia and I. It was in my first trip in Perth when I decided that Felicia was the one I wanted to marry. Felicia and I came back to Perth the second time to have our honeymoon and now we brought our son along to trace back the same route we took before 14 years ago. Who knows what happen in our 4th trip back in Perth?

Early Sunday morning, we took 2 separate flights out and we planned the departure time close to one another. Their flight was 30 minutes before ours. It was difficult to say goodbye, especially after so many days of intense fun, noise, chaos and love. At the departure gate, Elkan held back his tears and waved us goodbye. It was dawn and the sky glowed beautiful.

Distance and separation do bring us closer as a family. We treasure every reunion time.
I hope my son remembers and cherish all these adventures. He is becoming a teenager soon and by then, he won’t enjoy going out with his old folks. For me, my memory is fading off slowly but I have a rich vault of blogs and vlogs for us to enjoy later.

Time to plan our next reunion. 

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Creepy Birthday Motel Surprise – V/VI (Wave Rock)

June 16, 2016 1 Comment

On the 7th Day of our tour, I celebrated my birthday at one of Australian’s most iconic natural landmarks – the Wave Rock. We left Albany early this morning and drove over 350km to Hyden, a distance equivalent between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Thankfully, I was blessed with blue sky sunny day! Finally, I can fly my drone once more!

Wave Rock is situated at one of the most remote corners in Western Australia, in a small town call Hyden. It is pretty far from the nearest tourist-friendly town. Basically, Hyden is like a small ghost town. There isn’t much to explore or see here except the legendary Wave Rock. Since I have never been to the Wave Rock (and Felicia mentioned many times it doesn’t worth the effort to visit this over-publicized landmark), I decided to detour and cross this check box off my list of “must-visit” places.

Is it worth it? It is no doubt one unique and majestic odd-looking rock formation. Considering we spent only 1 hour at the Wave Rock and over 8 hours making the detour, the numbers may not make much sense to many. However, this is a new experience for us. Elkan and Tracy walked on top of the 14m-tall ancient rock while I flew my drone over it; I am certain it does worth every second of our time to be here.

The other highlight of the day was our accommodation at the local motel. It may be the low-peak travel season and we couldn’t find other traveler-occupants here. Thanks to the successful cult-horror-movie, Psycho, I have a phobia staying in a motel; especially one that is remote and quiet. For a good 15 minutes, we walked around the compound and couldn’t find anyone. The brick-walled hallway and muddy driveway looked old and creepy. After watching 3 nights of horror movies, we spooked ourselves unnecessarily.

Other than the old scary outlook, I must say the Wave Rock Motel was distinctively new, clean and very well furnished! It was very comfortable and warm. Once inside the room, we forgot about the fear. Still, we met less than 2 souls around the big empty compound.

Just when I was going to spend the last 2 hours of my birthday writing this vlog and blog, my 3 darlings gave me another surprise! They walked into the room with a bigger cake and real birthday candles! I was so surprised!

What moved me so deeply wasn’t the surprise cake, it was the song they sang and played. Knowing I like listening to live piano, Elkan spent 2 months taking piano lessons and he played one of my favourite scores “Over the Rainbow” on his iPad keyboards. Felicia composed a new lyric narrating our journey; and Tracy and her sang along. I stood there, moved deeply by their performance and love. Trying to conceal my emotion, I broke into laughter and gave all of them a big hug and kiss.

As always, their presence is my greatest birthday gift. And there is no gift greater than to see us smile together. Thank you for giving me another priceless “handmade” gift. I will remember this piece forever in my heart. Love you all.

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Raindrops keep falling on our heads – Part IV/VI (Albany WA)

June 15, 2016 2 Comments

It rained continuously for 3 days. Life was pretty gloomy and cold out here in Albany. The temperamental storm came and went every few minutes. The bad weather slowed down our journey as the heavy rain decreased visibility on the roads. My drone was grounded for 3 days and most of my camera equipments were wet. I had a difficult time to capture videos for my vlog as the raindrops kept blurring my lenses.

The ladies took turns to drive from Margaret River to Albany. It was a long 400km drive and we made 2 stops to visit the giant trees. Elkan and I were planning to climb up the 52m-tall Gloucester Tree. However, the wet slippery tree rods were too dangerous and risky for my little boy. Elkan was disappointed when I decided to call off the climb at mid-point. Safety is more important than fun.

Thankfully, the rain stopped when we arrived at the Valley of the Giant Trees. We ascent to the top of the giant trees by walking up a gentle 40m-tall ramped bridge. It was an eye-opener for Elkan and Tracy. At least, this was much easier (and safer) than climbing vertically up the Gloucester Tree. As the sun was setting, we quickly made our way down to Albany. We didn’t want to drive into the night, especially when the weather was so foggy and wet.

We arrived in Albany just in time before dusk. Tracy bought a vege-meal at Hungry Jack while the rest of us dined at Red Rooster. It was pouring all night and we went back to our cottage and watch the classic Matrix Trilogy via my protector. (Yes, I brought a protector along just in case I couldn’t connect my iPad with the TV). 

Day 6 – It was still pouring and we lazed in the cottage until late morning. Most of the attractions were just 20km away. Despite the heavy downpour, we went ahead to visit the Wind Farm, the Gap, the Natural Bridge, the BlowHole and the Wildlife Park. The wind was so strong along the coastal tracks. We struggled with our steps at the top of the ocean cliffs. It was one terrifying and exciting experience.

When we were exploring the massive rock-formations, we witnessed another magical natural wonder – double rainbows arching out in the stormy sea! It was such a rare beautiful sight!

We came back early to pack for tomorrow’s long drive to Hyden (WaveRock). At midnight, I foiled Elkan and Tracy’s surprise birthday attempt! They tried to surprise me but I was always one step faster than them! Can’t blame them for failing, I am the Master of Pranks at home. Nonetheless, they tried again and succeeded in luring me to the kitchen in the name of “supper”.  There, I blew a digital candle (via Tracy’s iPad) and four of us shared a very very small chocolate cake. Thanks for the surprise but daddy is just too witty for all of you. Hahaha.

Speaking about birthday – I wish I will not lose a drone tomorrow. Last year’s loss was too painful for me. Before I end this blog, I want to convey a big big THANK YOU to all my lovely family and friends who sent their greetings via Wechat and Facebook! Thanks for all your warm birthday wishes and blessings! And yes, I live, I laugh, I love and I am truly very very happy! Thanks for all your love, friendship and kinship!

 

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Wine, Chocolate & Caves – Part III/VI (Margaret River)

June 13, 2016 4 Comments

Taking a road trip with our son, Elkan, and reenacting some of those familiar 2002-shots with our boy standing in front of us was quite a surreal experience. After all, Felicia and I just got married 14 years ago when we had our belated honeymoon in Perth. While many of these attractions remain unchanged, our 12-year-old boy reminds us the passing of time. While age takes a slow toll on my appearance and body, I still feel like 25 deep inside.

Yesterday afternoon, we arrived safely at our 3rd pitstop – Margaret River. It was like a Little Singapore, there were so many Singaporean-travelers here! We bumped into them everywhere – from chocolate factory to caves to Coles supermarket! Singapore should open an embassy here!

We stayed 2 nights at a big cozy 2-bedroom cottage at Margaret River. It consisted of 2 warm bedrooms, a fully-equipped kitchen and a very spacious living room. It was very well-maintained, warm and comfortable.

Day 1 – we visited the wineries and local-food (chocolate, nuts and nougat) “factories” yesterday. Do not expect to see any food production in those “factory” or “farm”, they are actually tourist retail outlets where shoppers get to enjoy lots of generous samplings. Too bad, all of us aren’t wine lovers. Most of these factories closed at 5pm. The sun set early in winter and by 530pm, it was nightfall. The only place to loiter after 5pm was at Coles Supermarket (our favourite evening hangout place) where we bought groceries for our meals.

By 8pm, we finished dinner and we got nothing to do. We were so bored that we played hide-and-seek in complete darkness. The cottage was only big enough for us to play 5 rounds. By 9pm, I worked on my vlog and blog while the three of them watched a horror movie via the large LCD TV through my iPad Netflix.

Day 2 – We decided to drive down south to Augusta and Leeuwin to visit the cape and caves. It started drizzling the minute we arrived at the Leeuwin Lighthouse.

We did so much stairs-climbing today. We took 176 steps x 2 up and down the lighthouse at Leeuwin, 500 steps at Western Australia’s largest cave, Jewel Cave and 320-step staircase x 2 at majestic Lake Cave. Thankfully, all these attractions are naturally indoor. The rain didn’t really dampen our tour.

It will be another 4-hour long drive tomorrow. We will be heading to our 4th pitstop, Albany. The weather forecast doesn’t look very good for now. Hopefully we get sunny weather tomorrow as all the attractions are outdoor. Rain or shine, it will be a wonderful and relaxing road trip for all of us.

Enjoy the vlog and photos. 

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The Road Trip Begins – Part II/VI (Evedon Park)

June 11, 2016 1 Comment

We left Perth City yesterday morning. We were extremely excited and nervous. It was pouring heavily and my 2 lady-drivers were feeling a little worried about the long drive down-south. We will be taking a long 11-day drive looping the western and southern coast of Australia. Being super kiasu, I planned a very relaxing itinerary with no more than 3-4 hour-drive a day. In total, we will cover a distance over 1400km in the next 11 days with 6 pitstops.


The 1999 horrific car accident in Margaret River haunts both Felicia and I till today. It serves as a reminder to us not to take anything for granted. Whenever and where ever we drive on foreign roads,  we remind ourselves to take extra care. Many traveler-drivers lost their lives overseas because they were unfamiliar with the local driving conditions. Since 1999, we never drive overnight and in bad weather. It is just not worth the risk.

So far so good, the weather has been really kind to us. Tracy and Felicia drove smooth and well. The ladies took turns to drive. I played “Vehicle Commander” and guided them on the direction. Thanks to the advancement of GPS-road guiding technology, navigating the roads is such a breeze! Compared to what we experienced 14 years ago, I had to bookmark all the pages in the thick street directory and flipped pages as we crossed from one county to another. Looking back, I was impressed how amazing we were. We were so young and daring!

Our 1st Stop – Serpentine Falls. 

Felicia and I were here 14 years ago! Thankfully, I just got my first digital camera back then (the 2002-photo was taken by Mannc). Luckily, I managed to retrieve the old photo from my iPhone and candidly replicated a similar shot at the very same spot! Tracy was our photographer and I must say she directed the shot very well! Our 2016-photo looks fantastic!

Next came my drone-therapy. After losing my DJI Inspire 1 mysteriously in New Zealand last June, I suffered from acute drone-phobia (a fear of flying + losing the damn expensive drone). Tracy strongly advised me not to take the drone to Perth. With recent successful flights in my last 3 trips (Xiamen, Bali and Bintan), I decided to tempt fate again in Perth. Honestly, till this day, I still believe the lost-drone incident was due to DJI’s hardware failure. Never my error.

Anyway, I flew in full confidence and ….. it was the smoothest ride ever! The new Phantom 4 is so responsive and good. I did had a very small accident though, I forgot to calibrate my 4th flight and it crashed into our rented car. Hahah. No damage, fly on!

 At 4pm, we arrived at our first pitstop at Evedon Park. We had a duplex lakeside cabin and it was beautiful. Tracy and Elkan loved the place so much. They dropped everything and headed out to the lake. It was so cold, there wasn’t any heater in the cabin and Elkan lighted up his first fireplace with dry woods. Later the evening, Felicia, Tracy and Elkan prepared a very nice home-cooked dinner. Overlooking sunset by the lake, it was just so cozy and peaceful. Sitting by the fireplace, we spent the rest of the night watching Zootopia projected from my Apple iTune.

This is life and I am loving it every second! Always make time for your loved ones. Live, discover, laugh and love! Next stop – Margaret River!

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Back in Swan River 14 years later – Part I/VI (Perth)

June 10, 2016 4 Comments

Despite it being labelled as a laid-back city of DownUnder, Perth has always been very special and dear to both Felicia and I. Perth was the first city I took my first solo-flight to. And it was the first city I experienced winter and survived a horrific life-threatening car accident. It was the city we got our design degrees. It was also here where I made up my mind to marry Felicia. And we came back 3 years later to celebrate our honeymoon with my sister-in-law Chups and buddy Mannc.

Since then, life has changed so much for us over the past 14 years. You can imagine my joy to be back again! Over the past 10 years, I have been bugging my friends to join me in Perth. I almost succeeded 3 years ago in getting the entire Wahbiang Clan to fly down during the June vacation. I failed and we spent the holiday with a smaller group at Zhuhai instead.


Time is perfect this June. Elkan will be taking his PSLE later this year and he doesn’t have time to fly down to Hong Kong. I decided to take a 2-week off somewhere cold, away from the blazing heat. Last June, we had a great family vacation in New Zealand and I immediately thought about Perth. Best of all, I have 2 drivers this year – Tracy and Felicia! We will take it slow and easy, and spend some real quality time down south.

We flew in separately. Felicia and Elkan flew from Singapore while Tracy and I took a direct flight from Hong Kong. It was so good to reunite with my darlings at the hotel lobby last night! It felt so good to see them here in Perth!

Today, we spent our first day touring the city center – from Hay Street to the Bell Tower. It was unexpectedly cold and windy. At Elizabeth Quay, we spotted wild dolphins! We spent the rest of the day out in the warm sun at King’s Park where Auntie BayBay and Felicia took the car for more test-ride. It is a rented car so they want to practice more before tomorrow’s road trip down south.

It will be a very relaxing 12-day road trip. I planned 6 pit-stops for my little boy and Auntie Baybay! This is their first trip to Perth, I hope they enjoy as much as we do.

With so much free time at night (all shops closing at 5pm), I have all the free time to download the photos and edit the vlog! Stay tuned!

And yes! I found my dear old Joey today! It is still drinking at the same spot!

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Easter at City of Gold – Dubai

April 1, 2016 2 Comments

It was another impromptu holiday adventure. Thanks to the great last-minute offer by Cathay Pacific Fanfare, I finally made my way to the City of Gold, Dubai.

Dubai fascinated me with all its iconic mega structures and glamorous attractions. The city is so new, modern and clean, it’s like a trip to Tomorrowland. Over 70% of the city is occupied by international foreigners. It is so colourful and rich in diversity that I overlook the flaws of this fabricated and superficial world. It is easy to forget this is a Muslim city. For a second, I thought I was in the City of Sins. I asked the taxi driver to bring me to the casinos and naughty joints. Of course, he reminded me I was in an Arab world.

I love the Arabians – both men and women. Sharp features, big eyes and long eye lashes, I was so attracted by their good looks. It was rather intriguing for me to see a family of multiple wives traveling with an alpha male. In this unique world of polygamy, how do these women live peacefully together?  I must say the Arabian men are gifted.

Tracy and I spent a total of 5 days in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is extremely easy to navigate around the city. The metro is so efficient and comfortable. City-planning is excellent here. Most of the attractions are found around the metro stations.

Beside the usual desert and mosque tours, I enjoy shopping in Dubai downtown. Their malls are so big that I can spend one full day exploring them. There are just too many nice stuffs to buy here! There are many things that I don’t see in Singapore or Hong Kong. The selection is pretty wide here. And best of all, we enjoyed the great customer service here!

On our first day, we woke up at 5am to catch sunrise at the top of the world’s tallest building, Burg Khalifa (named after the ruler and sponsor of UAE). The place was so big that Tracy and I got lost while trying to find our way to its entrance. What an adventure to roam aimlessly around the giant mall at 5:30am in the morning.

The view from the top (at 124th floor) was magnificent! It was very cooling and there weren’t many people. We sat by the deck for over an hour to capture some really nice time-lapse. It was a good idea to come here first. From above, we were able to look around the city and got familiarised with the key landmarks. What a great way to start the holiday!

Next stop, we went to visit Souk Madinat Jumeirah. Located just beside the 7-star hotel, Burj Al Arab (aka The Sail), Souk Madinat Jumeirah is a re-creation of an Arabian shopping street. Mostly air-conditioned indoor with a couple of shaded outdoor alleys, it was quite enjoyable to shop here. At noon, we went to another mega mall (Mall of the Emirates) nearby to have lunch. There, we spent a bomb shopping.

We ended our first day back at Dubai Mall (located at Burg Khalifa). We visited the world’s famous Dubai Aquarium and the Dubai Fountain. Having visited the world’s largest aquarium tank at Zhuhai Chimelong, the mall aquarium didn’t impressed me that much. It was actually pretty small and old, I feel. The Dubai Fountain was also overstated. It was just a big musical fountain with endless crowd.

On our second day, we signed up for a half-day desert adventure where we rode desert buggy and experienced some insane 4WD dune drive.

This was the first time I set foot on the desert. The super-fine sand was very soft and comfortable. It wasn’t as hot as I had expected. What I hated most was the desert wind. The wind picked up the fine sand particles and rained them hard against my body. It felt like a million stings “sandblasted” on the exposed area of my legs and arms. Now I understand why the Arab dresses like that. It was too late to ask for a full-body sand coat. (Later that evening, I spent a great deal of time to dust the super fine sand off my camera, shoes and phone!)

The desert buggy was super fun, especially going up and down the steep dunes. The 4WD dune drive was intense. I wouldn’t recommend this to my wife and son who suffer from motion-sickness. One of the tourists in our car vomited after the insane ride. For me, I truly enjoyed it without any problem. Despite the rocking and violent ride, I felt very safe in the car. Truly enjoyable!

We spent the late afternoon exploring the old Dubai streets by the Creek. The underground air-conditioned Dubai Museum was a good treat. We had late lunch at one of the many river-side cafes.

On our third day, we signed up for a full-day tour to Abu Dhabi. We took a 2-hour car ride to the infamous Sex-&-the City. There, we visited the majestic and beautiful Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and Ferrari World. Our tour guide also brought us to Etihad Tower where Fast & Furious 7 shot the impossible flyover stunt!

With so little time and so many things to see, I decided to slow down our pace on the 4th and 5th day. Due to the nature of my job, I spent the last 2 days exploring new malls and retail concepts.

Overall, it was a very rewarding and eye-opening trip for us. Dubai is a dream city for many foreigners who come to realise their dreams. The city is still in transition and has so much untapped possibilities to offer. With good governance and talents, I am sure Dubai will continue to flourish and prosper as the world’s top iconic city.

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